CSI Technologies, a Wild Well Control company, has developed a proprietary standardized process of engineering oversight and operations control. This system improves cementing jobs while lowering costs for operators in shale plays. The project, carried out in the Permian Basin, has resulted in an average cost savings of $140,000 per well in cementing materials alone.

The Permian Basin cost-reduction project, which lasted 15 months, focused wholly on cementing operations and design. The actual cost of primary cementing is only a small percentage of the cost for each well—typically around 5 percent. However, the financial ramifications of poor primary cement work can be much greater. A poor cement job can result in difficulty with completions, delayed production and potentially millions of dollars in remediation.

"When tendering for cementing services, evaluating submissions for lowest cost is common," said Travis Baughman, CSI Senior Cementing Advisor. "It is less common that operators evaluate the cementing service’s approach to slurry performance associated with region-specific challenges in reference to this cost. Drilling engineers are often provided very little information on the variety of technologies available to them regarding cementing optimization. Not only do these options vary significantly in performance, but they can have a large impact on operational costs."

The cementing issue specific to the Permian Basin is formation depletion and low-fracture gradients. The pressure required to fracture the formations being drilled is very low, which can result in losses while cementing the surface and intermediate strings. In many cases, these losses result in a lowered ‘top of cement’ and create incompliance with local regulations. The remediation efforts needed to recover compliance is often significantly more expensive than the primary cementing attempt altogether.

Numerous methods and materials have been used over the years to heal losses prior to and during cementing.

These methods include a vast market of lost circulation material, extra casing strings, multiple stage jobs, nitrified cement, and costly lightweight materials to name a few.

CSI's unique process couples region-specific experience, global access to relevant technologies (both new and old), and an operationally trained staff (engineers and field advisors), all dedicated to ensuring that their clients are getting the products they need at a fair cost.

"Because this project was initiated as oil prices began to drop, the drilling team needed to find ways to cut costs," said Baughman. "Throughout this project, the major goal was to decrease cost and improve the success rate—all without compromising the integrity of cement barriers. Through some technical work altering the cement designs and properly implementing some existing operational technologies, we were able to get there.

“There are a lot of moving parts that contribute to sound cementing work,” Baughman continued. “Identifying exactly where your operations are most susceptible to failure is a big piece of the puzzle. Only when you know where your problems are coming from can you evaluate your options, both technically and financially, to find the best fit for your well construction.”

For more information, contact Wild Well at 281-784-4700 or visit wildwell.com or csi-tech.net.